Photo: AFP照片：法新社

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev turned 46 last Wednesday, with a group of fans in cheerleading outfits marking the occasion by singing “Happy Birthday, Mr President” on Red Square.

Five young women who call themselves “the Medvedev Girls” donned red, white and blue colored mini-dresses and burst into a slightly off-key version of the song, as performed by Marilyn Monroe for John F. Kennedy in 1962.

“We think Dmitry Medvedev is the best president ever elected. We hope he will stand again in 2012,” said activist Yulia Semyonova.

The group then handed in a cake complete with candles and an iPhone decorated with a picture of Medvedev to the presidential administration, but were apparently not granted a personal audience with the leader, who spent the day at work.

The group emerged this summer, adding sex appeal to Medvedev’s image, previously overshadowed by the macho antics of his partner in the tandem, Vladimir Putin, as speculation mounted on which will stand as president.

Putin has previously prompted students at a Moscow university to strip to lingerie and declare their undying love for him in an erotic calendar, as well as inspiring a pop song called “I want a man like Putin.”

In a previous stunt, two of the Medvedev Girls stripped to bikinis in a central Moscow square, claiming this would promote Medvedev’s legislation against beer drinking.

Separately, the Nashi pro-Kremlin youth group gathered birthday wishes from passersby outside a Moscow university and posted them on Twitter.

A survey carried out by state polling agency VTsIOM for the occasion found that 50 percent of Russians could not come up with any ideas associated with Medvedev, while 47 percent could not name any of his achievements.

(AFP)

TODAY’S WORDS
今日單字

1. erotic adj.

色情的 (se4 qing2 de5)

例: The gallery was full of art depicting people in the most erotic of scenes and poses.

(這個畫廊佈滿以極盡色情的場景與姿態，描繪人們的藝術。)

2. passersby n.

過路客 (guo4 lu4 ke4)

例: Passersby were stunned to see such a famous actor walking next to them on the street.

(過路客在街上看到一位著名演員行經身旁，驚訝到目瞪口呆。)

3. associate with v. phr.

與…聯想在一起 (yu3 ... lian2 xiang3 zai4 yi4 qi3)

例: What sort of attributes are usually associated with that particular wine?